A Systems Approach to Sustainable Sanitation Challenges in Urbanising China (SASSI)

卫生系统与社会、技术和生态系统在更小和更大的范围内相互交织。如何规划、实施、管理、维护和使用这些资源对可持续性成果产生影响。国家卫生基础设施的改造虽然通常是为了改善人类福祉，但可能对人类健康、社会关系和环境可持续性产生不利影响。然而，缺乏系统和综合的证据来说明卫生系统转型的可持续性成果。这些成果可能取决于多种因素，如特定背景下的资源可用性、日常做法以及当地价值观、信仰和规范体系，本项目的总体目标是促进改善人类福祉，将其作为可持续发展议程的总体目标。它旨在提高我们对复杂的人类与环境相互作用及其可持续性结果的理解。它将强调在人口密集的城市环境中建立可持续卫生系统的必要性（可持续发展目标12、10）;支持努力发展文化上适当、更具包容性、经济上可行和减少浪费的卫生基础设施（可持续发展目标6、可持续发展目标11）;在促进低收入地区的可持续卫生设施方面，帮助减少不平等现象（SDG10，SDG12）;帮助提高穷人的生活水平（SDG 11），减少与缺乏适当卫生设施相关的常见健康风险（SDG 3）24.本项目将界定和推进一种卫生系统办法，将人类的基本功能置于具有重要社会、经济和环境资源以及社会机构、周期和秩序的更广泛的人类生态系统之中。它将研究不同卫生系统（如服务网络或基于污水的卫生系统）、环境（例如，城市、城郊、农村）和时间尺度（考虑到时间滞后、规模和速度的增加以及卫生设施的间接影响）。该项目有四个相互关联的目标：目标1。了解不同类型的卫生系统的组成部分（及其相互作用），以及卫生系统如何与其他社会，技术和环境系统（系统的系统）相互作用。揭示不同卫生系统与可持续发展议程、可持续发展目标及其目标之间的相互作用目标3。与利益攸关方共同开发模式和工具，以支持卫生方面的知情决策，促进可持续发展目标4。建立卫生设施研究、设计、规划、实施、管理和维护方面的跨学科能力。特大城市提供了机会，研究在基础设施发展的不同阶段，城市、城市周边和农村环境共同演变的纠缠。我们将收集定量和定性数据，以了解随着时间的推移基础设施的转型，并探讨如何可能的特定背景下的政策或设计为重点的干预措施可能有助于可持续发展目标。情景构建将使我们能够考虑合理的未来，同时考虑可能的不确定性。该项目将提供与卫生系统转型相关的可持续性成果的全面和跨学科的理解，而这往往是现有研究所缺乏的。调查人员和咨询委员会成员在学术研究（密歇根大学、密歇根大学、阿联大学、同济大学、多伦多大学、奥克斯大学）、应用研究（东亚预警咨询组、可持续卫生、愿望线）和政策驱动研究（联合国大学全球健康所）方面的合作，将使该项目具有互补优势。这将有助于将调查结果有效地传达给广泛的最终用户。

Sanitation systems are entangled with social, technical and ecological systems at smaller and larger scales. How they are planned, implemented, managed, maintained and used has impact on sustainability outcomes. The transformation of national sanitation infrastructures, although usually implemented with the aim to improve human well-being, may carry adverse implications for human health, social relations and environmental sustainability. Yet, there is a lack of systematic and integrated evidence on the sustainability outcomes of transitions in sanitation systems. Such outcomes can depend on factors as diverse as context-specific resource availability, everyday practices and local value, belief and norm systems.The overall aim of this project is to contribute to improved human well-being as the overarching goal of the Sustainable Development agenda. It aims to enhance our understanding of complex human-environment interactions and their sustainability outcomes. It will highlight the need for sustainable sanitation systems in dense urban environments (SDG12, SDG10); support efforts to develop sanitation infrastructures that are culturally appropriate, more inclusive, economically viable and less wasteful (SDG6, SDG11); contribute to reducing inequalities in promoting sustainable sanitation for low-income areas (SDG10, SDG12); and help progress the improvement of living standards for the poor (SDG11) and the reduction of common health risks associated with the lack of appropriate sanitation (SDG3).The project will define and advance a systems approach for sanitation which situates basic human functions within wider human ecosystems of critical social, economic and environmental resources and social institutions, cycles and order. It will study possible sustainability outcomes across different sanitation systems (such as service-networked or sewage-based sanitation), environments (e.g., urban, peri-urban, rural) and temporal scales (to account for time lags, increased scale and pace and the indirect effects of sanitation) using various analytical approaches and state-of-the-art modelling. The project has four interlinked objectives: Obj1. To understand the components of (and their interaction within) different types of sanitation systems as well as how sanitation systems interact with other social, technical and environmental systems (system of systems)Obj2. To reveal the interactions between different sanitation systems and the Sustainable Development Agenda, SDGs and their targetsObj3. To co-develop with stakeholders models and tools to support informed decision making in sanitation towards sustainable developmentObj4. To build transdisciplinary capacity in sanitation research, design, planning, implementation, management and maintenanceThe project will focus on Shanghai (China) as a prime example of urban transformation. The mega-city offers opportunities to study the entanglement of co-evolving urban, peri-urban and rural environments at varying stages of infrastructural development. We will collect quantitative and qualitative data to understand infrastructural transitions over time and explore how possible context-specific policy- or design-focused interventions may contribute to sustainable development goals. Scenario building will allow us to consider plausible futures whilst taking into account possible uncertainties. The project will offer the comprehensive and transdisciplinary understanding of sustainability outcomes related to transitions in sanitation systems that is often missing from existing studies. The collaboration of investigators and members of the Advisory Board in academic (UoM, MMU, UoA, Tongji, UoT, UOx), applied (EAWAG, Sustainable Sanitation, Desire Lines) and policy-driven (UNU-IIGH) research with complementary strengths will add significant value to the project. It will facilitate the effective communication of findings to a wide range of end-users.